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Seco Tools has expanded its family of PCBN insert grades for hard part turning. Using a bimodal substrate and nanolaminate coating process, these inserts are designed to extend tool life and increase productivity for a range of applications.

Seco’s PCBN grade chain for materials ranging from ISO H05 to H35 consists of CH0550, CBN060K, CH2540 and CH3515 and is designed for turning hardened steels. The coatings, bimodal DNMG Insert substrate with coarser grain materials, and cutting-edge profiles are designed for long and predictable performance.

CH0550 is designed for prolonged wear resistance in high-speed, continuous H05 cutting. CBN060K is said to excel in continuous to slight interrupted H15 cuts. CH2540 is designed for continuous and moderate interrupted cuts in H25. CH3515 is said to be tough for handling heavy interruptions in H35 operations.

Each of the insert grades is available in common ISO insert geometries in metric and imperial specifications, as well as high-feed wiper geometries.

Delcam, an Autodesk company, sets the industry standard for CAM software, and the company incorporates a wealth of new features into every release of its FeatureCAM product for automating CNC programming. FeatureCAM 2016 R3 delivers a wide range of new features and improvements such as new toolpath strategies and access to Autodesk A360 collaboration software.

The FeatureCAM 2016 R3 enhancements begin with the capability to automatically control rotational machine axes during indexing or 3+2 machining. Machine limits can be used from a machine design file, by specifying custom limits or using the shortest rotation the machine can take.

The new enhancements also include the ability to program two tools mounted to the same turning head toolholder. Turning heads are toolholders that enable turning operations when used on a WCMT Insert milling machine.

Next, FeatureCAM 2016 R3 users can now create spiral tool paths for face milling operations. Depending on the part shape, this can reduce air cutting for a more efficient toolpath.

The FeatureCAM 2016 R3 user interface improvements also enable an improved workflow. The improvements include a new apply button within the transform dialogue for faster transformations, quicker navigation to feature coolants from the results tab, a new feature tab for post-processor variables to improve navigation, and a change to the simulation algorithm that results in better simulation speeds.

Finally, the incorporation of Autodesk A360 enables project collaboration, file viewing and file sharing—all within a single, central workspace.

“FeatureCAM automates the workflow from design to NC code,” Coated Inserts says Sanjay Thakore, product marketing manager at Delcam. “Automation tools, including feature recognition, reduce programming time and increase programming consistency. The new features in FeatureCAM 2016 R3 will further enhance programming capabilities, ultimately resulting in increased productivity.”

Visit the company's IMTS showroom for more information.